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The parking lot on Bacon Street in Pembroke will soon be filled with vendors selling local produce, products and crafts. And it will likely be that way each Saturday through the summer and fall.

The Whistlestop Market will kick off its first weekend at 8 a.m. Saturday. The market will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday through Nov. 19.

The market was the brain child of Pembroke’s Downtown Development Authority. Members of the Pembroke City Council wanted to start a farmers market to help promote buying and eating local products and to draw people to downtown Pembroke, said Tiffany Walraven, a council member and chairperson of the authority.

“There’s a lot of different things in the local area …I think will be good for the farmers market,” she said previously. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the city of Pembroke.”

Marilyn Page, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority, said there will be about a dozen vendors at this weekend’s market that will be selling crafts, fresh herbs, baked goods, jams, jellies and more. She noted that more produce will become available as the season moves along.

“It’s very early in the growing season right now, but it will pick up a little ways down the road,” Page said.

“But we’re looking forward to (this weekend), and we’re excited,” she added. “We’re looking for lots of people to come to the city.”

Special event days throughout the season at the Whistlestop Market will include:

April 2 – Kick off

April 23 – Easter egg hunt

May 7 – Citywide rummage sale

June 4 – Arts in the Park

July 2 – Fourth of July celebration

Sept. 10 – Farm Heritage Day

Oct. 1 – Tastes and Tunes Day

Oct. 29 – Pumpkin carving

Nov. 19 – Last Harvest Day

For more information about the Whistlestop Market, call 653-4417 or visit pembrokega.net.